The Onaway City Commission is moving forward with a proposed arrangement with Presque Isle County to maintain its police force.

The panel voted during its regular meeting Monday to approve language drafted by the city attorney and forward a proposed agreement to the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department and the Presque Isle County prosecutor’s office for their review. The contract could end up being modified depending on future discussions with the involved parties.

The arrangement would allow Onaway Police Chief Jim Gibson to hire on as a deputy with the county with a small savings to the city initially and a larger savings in the future.

The agreement would have the city pay $50,000 per year, or $12,500 per quarter, to the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department, and the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department would in turn hire an additional deputy, according to a report by Onaway City Manager Joe Hefele.

The Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department would station a deputy in Onaway a minimum of 40 hours per week. The city no longer would make payments to the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department once an opening within the department occurs, through retirement or other means, and the additional deputy could be rolled into that opening.

“Once this happens, the contract would be over and the sheriff’s department no longer would promise an officer in Onaway 40 hours per week,” Hefele reported. “Once the city no longer is making payments to the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department, it could put some of those sums toward nighttime patrol, with area officers working four-hour nighttime shifts for the city.”

Hefele said he is forecasting a savings of approximately $6,000 in the first year of the agreement and approximately $10,000 in the second and third year, assuming there would be a second and third year. He is predicting a savings of approximately $50,000 once the agreement is over, which assumes 150 of the four-hour nighttime shifts at $100 per shift.

“That $50,000 is the money desperately needed to repair the streets that we’ve been letting go the past few years,” Hefele explained. “This allows us to identify road repair funds without a sizeable tax increase.”

Hefele agreed that the situation is not ideal but is the best alternative to the city maintaining its existing police department, which is not cost effective.

“While I understand that this arrangement is not the same as having our own police department, I believe it is the next best thing and the best we can afford within our new financial reality,” Hefele noted.

The arrangement would also allow the city to keep Gibson, an employee with 14 years of law enforcement experience in Onaway, employed within the community at a level of compensation comparable to what he receives currently.

Page 2 of 2 - The proposal to roll Onaway’s one-man police force into the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department stems from the city facing a projected budget deficit and its search for a way to both eliminate the shortfall and free up revenue for streets.

Onaway’s police department costs the city between $75,000 and $80,000 annually, but eliminating it leaves the community without local law enforcement.

In a citywide survey, taxpayers were asked to choose the most preferable option, between keeping the police department and sacrificing the streets, eliminating the police department and eliminating the budget deficit or supporting a tax increase of up to four mills that could save both the police department and the streets.

Thirty-six percent of those who responded supported elimination of the police department, while 31 percent indicated they wished to keep the police department.

The Onaway City Commission also voted to employ Gibson as Onaway Chief of Police for a period of 30 days, beginning April 1, to provide additional time to execute an agreement between the city and the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department, with the city to compensate Gibson $1,004.72 per week and provide the retirement, dental, life, and optical coverage he received in March during those 30 days. The city will also be conducting a performance evaluation on Gibson.